Not Again
by the one who hums
Summary: This story is kind of like a sequel to the episode "Stun Spore Detour" from season two. Told from Ash and Misty's points of view, Ash gets hit with stun spore and Misty is off in search of some Salvea weed. The only OC is a four year old boy named Peter.


_Okey dokey, this is kind of like the episode "Stun Spore Detour" from season two. I really like that episode, so this'll kind of be a part dos (that's Spanish), or a sequel. The original Pokémon Trio is my favorite, so I'm using my creative license to rip the fabric of space and time apart and say they never separated. So we'll say Ash and Misty are both about 15 now and Brock is, well, however old Brock is supposed to be, plus 5 years._

_I would say go easy on the reviews, but where's the fun in that? Be honest, be brutal, be reviewing, because I want to know what you think._

_Disclaimer: Guess who owns Pokémon? I'm actually not sure…. But it isn't me, sadly._

* * *

><p>In Misty's Point of View….<p>

I sat down in the meadow, intent on relaxing in the sun for a bit. It's not often I get to relax like this, considering we always seem to be walking to the next town so Ash can earn his next badge. But today we all separated for a while to do our own thing. I chose to come sit down in this lovely meadow and enjoy the feeling of the sun on my face and the gentle breeze.

Unfortunately, the feeling of content didn't last long. Peter- the grandson of the man who was letting us rent a room in his cabin- came running towards me at a speed faster than I thought a four-year-old could run.

"That boy…..is sick…..and needs you to….come back," poor little Peter said between breaths.

"Which boy?" I asked incredulously.

"The one with the cool hat."

I sighed and got up. Ash was probably playing another one of his stupid tricks, and I just wanted to relax. Peter noticed my resigned pace and sped in front of me.

"Miss Misty? I swear I'm not lying. He really is sick, I saw it with my own two eyes," Peter said, holding up two fingers to emphasize his words.

If Peter saw it, either Ash was really good at faking it or he really was sick. But I'd only been gone a half an hour. How could he have gotten ill in that short amount of time?

I apologized to Peter, and left him behind on the path as I sped through the woods to reach the cabin faster.

When I finally opened the door to our room, I found Ash lying on the bottom bunk of one of the two bunk beds, clearly ill.

His face was already flushed with fever, and there was sweat beading on his forehead. The green covers were pulled all the way up to his chin, and he was shivering slightly. I walked over to him and put my hand on his forehead. As I'd already suspected, he was burning up.

I wracked my brain trying to figure out how he could've gotten in this condition so quickly, when a memory of when we were ten popped into my head.

"Vileplume?" I guessed, and though completely inappropriate in the current situation, I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Ash getting his head caught in yet _another_ Vileplume.

Ash nodded, saying rather hoarsely "I was in the tall grass and almost stepped on it. This one was smaller. It got mad."

Though smaller, it was obvious that this Vileplume was a higher level than the last one Ash went up against. The stun spore had already taken affect.

"This Vileplume wasn't like the other one though, where it just used stun spore to defend itself. This one seemed almost _happy _to attack me. I swear the thing was rabid or something." He tried to sit up, and managed to get onto his elbows before panting. Yup, definitely more powerful than last time.

"What did you use last time?" Ash asked me, referring to the medicine I used. "Ssss…Sal…"

"Salvea weed, "I said, helping him with the word. I walked over to wear he'd left his jacket on the floor and picked it up, searching the pockets for Dexter. I searched Salvea weed, like I had done five years ago when both Tracey and Ash were sick.

_Salvea weed is most commonly found at the bottom of lakes and ponds, and is popularly used to heal people from stun spore._

I slipped Ash's Pokedex back in his jacket pocket and paced over to the back wall of the cabin to look at the map that was tacked on the wall. The closest lake was miles away in the next town. I couldn't possibly make it there fast enough to get there before Ash got worse.

"Where's Brock?" I inquired.

Though he seemed to have difficulty speaking, Ash managed to tell me that Brock was at the Pokémon Center fawning over Nurse Joy while discussing food for the Pokémon. Mr. Breeder had been interviewing many Joys lately.

The Pokémon Center was on the other side of town. The opposite direction of where I was heading. There was no way I was going to get Brock. I had to get to a lake to get the Salvea weed. I'd have to send Peter to fetch Brock for me. Now as for getting to the lake…..

I had a thought. "Could I borrow Pidgeot?"

Ash's Pidgeot had been left in the forest outside of Pallet, to protect the Pidgeotto there from getting bullied by a Fearow. During our last trip back to Pallet, however, Ash brought Pidgeot along with him.

"What for?" he rasped.

"I can use Pidgeot to fly to the closest lake and get you come Salvea weed."

Ash reached under the covers and pulled a Pokéball from his belt. He tossed it to me, with "listen to Misty" command for Pidgeot. I told him I'd be back and went off to search for Salvea weed.

"Pidgeot, go!" I said, throwing the Pokéball Ash had given me.

As the bird Pokémon materialized in front of me, I noticed Peter had finally made his way back to the cabin.

"Peter, could you make your way to the Pokémon Center down the road? My friend Brock is there. I need you tell him that Ash is sick and he has to go take care of him until I get back."

Peter nodded, looking determined, and turned quickly and began hustling towards the road.

There. I felt a little better knowing Brock was going to be there watching Ash until I got back.

I turned back to Pidgeot, and noticed Pikachu sitting on its back.

"Pikachu, you know you can't come with me. Someone has to watch over Ash until Brock comes."

Pikachu's face fell, clearly the little electric Pokémon wanted to come with me.

"You know I'm only asking you to do this because I know I can trust you to take care of him. Please Pikachu? I have to go."

Pikachu nodded, and ran back towards the cabin.

That left me and Pidgeot. I stepped toward it carefully, not really sure how the bird reacted to people riding it. The majestic bird answered my internal question by lowering one of its wings to the ground, as if to say "Hop on." I climbed on grabbed ahold of some feathers to assure that I wouldn't fall off. I told Pidgeot to fly and we were in the air so fast I could hardly breathe. The view itself was breathtaking, as was the feeling of riding a Pokémon through the sky. I've never had a flying type and have never known the feeling, but it sure was exhilarating.

In minutes we were at the lake and I was glad that Ash had Pidgeot. It would have taken me half a day to get to the lake, and Ash would be much worse by then. Bad fevers normally lead to hallucination. I did not want to see Ash hallucinate.

I quickly dismounted and returned Pidgeot to its Pokéball. Then I took out a Pokéball of my own and threw it in front of me.

"Poliwhirl, I choose you!"

Poliwhirl stood in front of me, facing out and searching around for the Pokémon it assumed it was going to battle.

"Poliwhirl, I don't need you to battle today. Do you remember the day we first met?"

Though Poliwhirl didn't have a mouth, I could tell that it was smiling by the light in its eyes. Yes, Poliwhirl remembered when we first met. As a Poliwag, it gathered Salvea weed for me and became my friend.

"Remember how you swam to the bottom of that lake and got the Salvea weed for Ash?"

I was answered with an enthusiastic "Poli!"

"Do you think you could help me again?" I said, knowing that my helpful little Pokémon would not refuse. "Think you could look for some Salvea weed at the bottom of this lake?"

Poliwhirl answered me by diving into the lake.

Then from behind me, I heard someone talking.

"_To protect the world from devastation….."_

* * *

><p>In Ash's Point of View….<p>

Where was Misty? I'd been lying in bed for what felt like hours. Pikachu would occasionally come up next to me, give me a worried look, then run back to the window and wait.

I could barely concentrate with this stupid fever. I would start thinking about where Misty was, what was taking her so long, and then my mind would wander to other things about Misty. _Why do we fight so much? Why does she only like water Pokémon? Do I still owe her a bike? _My mind discarded the thoughts as fast as they came.

I hated this fever. I hated getting sick. I would freeze, and pull the covers up to my chin. Then I would burn up, sweating from the heat of the thick blanket. Half the time I was caught somewhere between sleep and reality, so everything I saw or heard felt distorted somehow, like it wasn't even real. And I was terribly thirsty…..

"Pikachu, could you hand me my canteen?" I asked, hating how small and weak my voice sounded.

I took a drink of the lukewarm water and my thoughts once again returned to Misty. She left maybe two hours ago to go search for Salvea weed. I thought with Pidgeot she'd have been back by now. She said the next town wasn't that far away…..

I was started to get worried about where she was when the door opened. Finally. I turned my head to ask Misty what took her so long, and was greeted by….Peter. _Huh?_

"Mister Brock isn't at the Pokémon Center!" Peter cried. "I looked all over for him, I swear. But he wasn't there. What do I do now?"

Huh. This is the first time I had even thought of Brock since Misty left. When Misty had left I'd heard her outside telling Peter to go get Brock. He was supposed to be here to take care of me. I hated the fact that I needed to be taken care of. Stupid Vileplume. I'd show that evil Pokémon not to mess with Ash Ketchum. But once I got better, of course. Anyways, I had no idea where Brock could be, and I didn't want to send Peter on a wild-Pidgey chase, so I told him he could just go home.

He looked at me disapprovingly. How could a four-year-old look so condescending? "I can't leave! Who's gonna watch you?" Little Peter, that is very noble of you, but you're four. What could you do to help me?

But then he scurried off into the bathroom. Kids. They have the bladders of-

Peter came back with a wet wash cloth that he immediately plopped on my forehead. My forehead, which had been engulfed in flames minutes earlier, now felt quite better. Maybe having a kid take care of me wouldn't be that bad…..

* * *

><p>Misty's Point of View…<p>

How did I get myself into these situations?

I attempted in vain, once again, to loosen the bindings from around my hands, but to no avail. Stupid Team Rocket had gotten the better of me. I was tied to a tree as they went through my bag, taking my food and my Pokéballs. I tried again to loosen my hands, but gained no slack. They caught me from behind and had frozen me with some sort of freeze ray, then managed to tie me up to this stupid tree. I hadn't gone down without a fight, though. James had a black eye from where I kicked him, and Jesse was missing a few clumps of hair. But still they managed to bind me to this tree.

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Poliwhirl had resurfaced. I mouthed for it to stay in the water until I gave the signal. As Poliwhirl went back under, I tried to think of a plan. I was _not _going to let Team Rocket steal my Pokémon. And I needed to get Salvea weed to Ash, still. But how was I going to get rid of them? I saw Meowth looking at the pile of Pokéballs lying in front of him. He picked up one of the Pokéballs, and I had a plan.

"I know you're bad guys, but it's just sad that you can't beat anyone in a fair fight. I doubt any member of Team Rocket could beat even my weakest Pokémon."

Both Jessie and James stopped rifling through my bag to give me an icy glare. "We could beat any one of your Pokémon in a battle!" James said with a sense of false confidence that only surfaces when defending your honor.

"Fine, let's battle. I win, I get my Pokémon back, and my food. You win, you can take everything and leave."

They started smelling something fishy. They looked at me skeptically when they heard the confidence in my voice.

"No," Jessie growled at James. "The second you untie her, she's going to grab her Pokémon and run."

"You don't have to untie me," I said to Jessie. "My weakest Pokémon is right there," I said, nodding towards the Pokéball in Meowth's paws. "I can call out attacks from here."

The three Rockets exchanged looks, then, confirming that there seemed to be no harm, accepted the challenge.

"Weezing, go!"

"Arbok, I choose you!"

I shot a look at Meowth and he threw out the Pokéball into the middle of the clearing. "Go Psyduck!" I yelled.

Psyduck appeared in front of Meowth. I wasn't lying; I really _was_ going to battle them with Psyduck.

* * *

><p>Ash's Point of View…<p>

Misty still wasn't back yet. Now I really _was_ worried. What was keeping her? Was she in trouble?

I felt so restless. I kept fidgeting, and attempted to get up once or twice, only to remember that the main symptom of stun spore was paralysis. I was stuck in this bunk bed until Misty came back. _If _she came back, that is.

Peter looked at me and said something about going to ask Grandpa if they had any antidote. Or at least, I _think_ that's what he said. I honestly couldn't concentrate enough to catch the whole conversation.

I looked over at Pikachu, who was still sitting on the chair over by the window, waiting on Misty. He cast a worried glance in my direction and I attempted a smile to show him I was still alive.

I saw Pikachu's face light up in excitement with an idea. He bounced towards me, landing on my chest with a little mousy grin. I saw sparks fly from his cheeks and got worried. Pikachu knew better than to zap me, right?

He lifted his little paws above his head, yelling: "Pika….."

Oh, no. "Pikachu, don't-"

"CHUUUUU!"

The thunderbolt hit me like, well, a thunderbolt. I screamed in agony, because I was already in pain from the fever, and Pikachu's level had gone up since the last time he shocked me. The shock only lasted for about five seconds, but it was too much. I blacked out.

When I awoke, I felt as if I was charred to the bone. I just sat there shaking; I couldn't stop. I glared up at the spot where Pikachu had rested on my chest to find the little yellow nightmare wasn't there. Pikachu was sitting on the chair by the window with an expression on his face that conveyed he was deeply worried, possibly for my sanity.

I looked down at myself to find not a single part of me shocked. It was a hallucination.

Great.

* * *

><p>In Misty's Point of View…<p>

"_That's _the Pokémon you're going battle with?" James gave out a hardy laugh. "This is going to be easy."

Meowth eyed him, an eyebrow raised, wondering where the battling confidence came from.

"Psyduck, use scratch attack!" I yelled to dumb yellow duck.

The pathetic little Pokémon took its time walking up to Arbok, which stood frozen in place, obviously anticipating some awesome attack. Instead, Psyduck waddled right up to it and began to use its miniscule nails to scratch Arbok. From my perspective, it looked as if my Pokémon was trying to tickle the large snake.

Jesse just stood there puzzled. She had probably assumed that my weakest Pokémon would be more impressive. The shock wore off, however, and she yelled an attack to Arbok.

"Arbok, tackle it!"

Psyduck, who had been attempting in vain to injure Arbok, was hit with a tackle that sent him flying. Psyduck landed on its head, which made me smile. _Just a little more damage…._ I thought.

"Weezing, use tackle too!" Psyduck was struck again by Weezing this time, landing next to my tree. Psyduck's headache was getting worse, and I was getting excited. I called out the only other attack my Psyduck could remember.

"Use tail whip now, Psyduck!"

Psyduck began to wag its tail back and forth, doing absolutely nothing to advance the battle. James began rolling on the ground from laughter, and Jessie cackled loudly. Her face looked extremely overeager as she called out her final attack.

"Wrap it, Arbok."

The giant purple snake slithered over to Psyduck, coiled its large body around it, and began to squeeze.

Psyduck's eyes bulged out a bit from the intense pressure, and for a second I thought that it still wasn't enough.

But then Psyduck's eyes began to glow.

* * *

><p>In Ash's Point of View…<p>

Peter came back, looking disappointed.

"No antidote," he said in a tiny voice, his eyes filled with pity when he looked at me.

I didn't really know if antidote would have worked on me anyway. It was a mainly used on Pokémon. I attempted to tell Peter this, but my voice wasn't working quite right. I could hardly speak anymore.

I looked toward the window opposite the bed I was in, and found my voice when I saw a Vileplume staring evilly at me through the window. I screamed so loud I thought my head was going to explode. I tried to run, tried to move, do _something_, but my body wouldn't let me.

Peter's eyes went wide when he saw me start yelling. He jumped and ran towards the window I was staring at. He looked out of it for a moment, and then turned back towards me.

"What did you see?" He asked, sounding a bit panicked.

"That Vileplume!" I yelled. It popped its head in the window again. "Right there!"

He spun around. "Where?"

It occurred to me for the second time that my eyes were deceiving me. What I saw wasn't real.

I wished Misty would hurry up.

Then I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>In Misty's Point of View….<p>

When Psyduck's eyes began to glow, I smiled.

Arbok looked at the little duck curiously, unaware of the power about to be released.

"Use confusion, Psyduck!"

Arbok was lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree next to Jesse. She looked up in surprise.

Psyduck unleashed another attack, this time on Weezing. It slammed into James, and they both fell to the ground.

Weezing fainted, and Arbok was unconscious as well.

Psyduck's eyes stopped glowing and it looked at me with a confused "Psy?"

"Nice job, Psyduck." I looked over to the stunned Rockets. "So I'll take my stuff and go. I just need someone to untie me."

The three team members looked back and forth from me to my stuff.

"No!" Jesse cried. She began grabbing my things and put them in my bag, trying to make a quick escape -and completely ignoring the terms of our agreement. _Fine with me._

"Poliwhirl, come on out!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, Poliwhirl blasted out of the lake, landing in front of me. "Water gun!" I yelled.

Team Rocket was hit with a jet of water that sent them sailing backward. They landed on their backs, my bag about twenty feet from them.

"Poliwhirl, grab my bag," I whispered to my Pokémon, as Jesse, James, and Meowth starting standing up.

As Poliwhirl ran forward and retrieved my bag, Meowth charged at him, not willing to let go of their loot just yet. He grabbed the bag from Poliwhirl and booked it toward the woods.

"Use body slam!" I yelled to Poliwhirl, and my tadpole Pokémon slammed Meowth to the ground under the full weight of its body. Poliwhirl grabbed my bag from the incapacitated Meowth and walked over to me.

"Thank you," I said, as Poliwhirl went to the back of the tree to untie me. When the ropes loosened from my wrists, I sighed.

I gave Team Rocket a look. "You really thought you could take advantage of me like that?" I took out Starmie's Pokéball and threw it out in front of me.

I pointed at Team Rocket and said with a smirk, "Poliwhirl, Starmie, use water gun.

The combined force of both jets of water sent Team Rocket flying. As they vanished in the distance, I heard a faint "_We're blasting off again!_"

I grinned at Poliwhirl, Psyduck, and Starmie. "Nice job guys, you deserve a good rest." I lifted up two Pokéballs and beamed Psyduck and Starmie. Then I looked back Poliwhirl. "Did you find any Salvea weed?"

Poliwhirl nodded, and ran back toward the lake, diving in. Poliwhirl returned to the surface, arms full of Salvea weed. I put it in my bag and returned Poliwhirl to its Pokéball.

Now I could finally go help Ash.

* * *

><p>Ash's Point of View…<p>

I dreamed of Misty. She returned with medicine and a bag of groceries.

"Sorry I took so long. I stopped at the Pokémart on the way back to pick up some food. You don't mind do you?"

Was she kidding me? I am lying in this bed practically dead and she stopped to _pick up groceries?_

I was about to rip her head off when she tossed a bottle onto the bed. "There's your medicine. Drink up."

As if it was that easy. I could barely lift my head, much less try and take that child-proof cap off my medicine bottle. I tried to ask her for help, but found I couldn't talk at all.

"I'm going back to enjoy the rest of my day. This was supposed to be my one day to relax and you ruined it by stepping on a stupid Vileplume. Take your medicine then get some rest. I'll be back later tonight."

My eyes popped out of my head. _She can't leave yet! She has to help me! I'll be trapped here for the rest of the day if Misty leaves again!_ But I couldn't call to her. I couldn't do anything.

Misty opened the door and left. The door slammed behind her, punctuating her dismissal.

I felt the sweat bead on my forehead, and wondered if she would ever return to help me.

* * *

><p>In Misty's Point of View…<p>

"Return, Pidgeot," I said as I beamed Pidgeot back into its Pokéball.

I hurried rushed toward the cabin. I realized again on my ride back that I had been gone much longer than I anticipated. I hoped that Brock had taken good care of Ash while I was gone.

As soon as I opened the door Pikachu was jumping into my arms and licking me. He bounced from one of my shoulders to the other, muttering "Pika, pika, pika" under his breath, and gazing intensely at Ash.

I looked over to Ash. He was asleep on the bunk bed, covers up to his chin, breathing slightly faster than one should when they're asleep.

I went to the small stove and began boiling some water to make the Salvea weed tea that I made last time for Ash. I looked around the small cabin in search of Brock, but couldn't find him. I went out the back door to see if he was back there, but didn't find him there either. I found Peter.

"Hi, Peter. Where's Brock?"

"I don't know!" Peter whined. "I couldn't find him and couldn't find Grandpa and we don't have any antidote and I don't know what to do!"

Peter looked like he was on the verge of tears. I walked over to him, and tried to be soothing.

"It's okay, Peter. You did a great job of watching Ash while I was gone. Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"He was seeing things that weren't there," Peter said in a tiny voice, looking down.

I turned away from Peter to look longingly back towards the cabin. "Peter, if you want to go home now, you can. I'll take care of Ash for now, and he'll come see you when he gets better."

Peter shocked me by giving me a small hug, and then he left. I've never been great with kids, but I thought I did a pretty good job talking to Peter.

I walked back to the cabin and added Salvea weed to the boiling water. Pikachu sat on Ash's chest and stared at his sleeping form. I walked over and rubbed between Pikachu's ears.

"He's going to be okay now. You don't have to worry."

I poured a cup of steaming Salvea weed tea and walked over to Ash. I had been careful not to wake him up until this point, and I didn't really want to wake him now. He looked exhausted. I set the tea down on the coffee table, and poked Ash in the chest.

He didn't move.

I poked him again.

Still nothing.

I grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him gently, hoping that he wasn't unconscious or in a coma or something.

When he finally stirred, sighed in relief. I poked him again to ensure that he stayed awake. With that final nudge he woke up. His eyes searched the space above him before finally settling on me.

"Misty?" he said, like he couldn't be sure it was really me.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm back. Ash, I am so sorry it took so long. Team Rocket came and slowed things down a lot."

It didn't look like he registered anything I just said. He just kept staring at me like he was waiting for me to disappear. I reached behind me and grabbed the cup of tea I had just made for him.

"I boiled the Salvea weed. All you have to do is drink the tea and you'll get better."

I held the tea out in front of me. But Ash just sat there.

"Aren't you going to drink it? I just spent four hours trying to get this Salvea weed for you!"

"I can't," he muttered.

* * *

><p>In Ash's Point of View…<p>

"What do mean you can't?" she yelled at me, obviously getting upset that after all of her effort I wasn't leaping up to drink the nasty looking tea.

"Misty, I can't move." Her eyes widened. "Stun spore, remember?"

She nodded, finally understanding. "I'll just help you then." She grabbed my hands and tried to pull me into a sitting position, then propped a pillow up behind my back so I stayed sitting up.

Before she handed me my tea, she scrutinized me for a second, staring at me and squinting.

"You look awful. How do you feel?"

"Worse than I look," I muttered. I looked up at her, half expecting her set the tea down on the table and go enjoy the rest of the day, like she had in my nightmare. But what I saw on her face was nothing but kindness, something I didn't get often from Misty. She put the cup up to my lips, and I swallowed down a couple gulps. I was so thirsty I didn't even care that it tasted like the bottom of a lake.

"I don't feel much different," I said, with the fleeting thought that I was going to stay paralyzed forever.

"Give it a couple minutes, Ash. It didn't work that fast last time either." She turned around and went back to the stove to fill my cup up with more tea. I looked at Misty and wondered what I did to deserve such a great friend.

* * *

><p>In Misty's Point of View…<p>

And as I said, in a couple of minutes, Ash could sit up on his own and drink the tea himself. I sat on the chair by the window with Pikachu. It was quiet for a couple of minutes, with just the sound of Ash drinking his tea, and the little noises of approval Pikachu made when I scratched him between the ears.

Finally, Ash spoke. "Thanks, Mist. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come and helped me." He stared down at his cup of tea. I wasn't sure if it was his words or the fever, but his face appeared to be a bit red.

"It was nothing," I muttered as I looked away as well, suddenly feeling bashful.

"I'm sorry I cause so much trouble all the time. I know that you wanted to just hang out and relax today, and I ruined that for you. I really didn't mean any harm."

"Ash, why are you apologizing?"

He looked up. "You aren't mad or anything?"

I walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him. "No. I know you didn't mean to step on that Vileplume, and you didn't ruin my day at all. I'm just glad you're okay now. There's nothing to be sorry for."

He nodded, looking down again. Then he sat up straighter, as if he just had a thought. "What took you so long anyway?"

"I tried telling you earlier. Team Rocket caught me. They tied me to a tree and tried to steal my Pokémon and food."

"_What?_" He sounded sort of angry, though I wasn't entirely sure why. It was obvious I was fine, and he could see my bag sitting on the chair across the room.

"They tried to steal my Pokémon and food. I challenged them to battle my weakest Pokémon, and if I won, I got my stuff back."

"I trust that you had some sort of plan, right?"

"Of course." I stood and began pacing, telling him all of it. I went through the whole tale, telling him everything up until the point where I returned to the cabin.

"Wow."

* * *

><p>In Ash's Point of View…<p>

I couldn't believe Misty had gone through so much while she was out trying to get me my Salvea weed. Misty never did battle Team Rocket much. Since they were always trying to capture Pikachu, it was normally me who blasted them off. I was worried when she first told me she went up against them. I'm not sure why. I knew that Misty was a great battler, but something about her having to beat them without me, while tied up, made my stomach knot up a bit.

"I can't believe you did all of that, while I was stuck in this bed hallucinating my head off."

She looked at me, puzzled. She opened her mouth, probably to ask what sort of things my fevered head dreamt up. I just held up my hand. "It's nothing. I'm fine now, and don't really want to revisit it."

She nodded solemnly. She looked like wanted to say something, but I had something to say too.

"Thank you, Misty. Really. You didn't have to do all that for me, but you did. I just want you to know that I really appreciate it."

She smiled. "Ash, I'd do it again. Anytime. We've been friends for five years. You know that I wouldn't have left you like that."

Then I did something I'd never done before. I walked over to Misty and hugged her.

It's not that I never wanted to hug her; it's that I'd never had the courage to try. But without giving myself a chance to back out, I walked over and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She was smaller than I expected, but softer too.

She surprised me by hugging me back just as tightly.

I felt completely happy, and almost glad that this whole thing happened, if it led up to this point. I pulled back a little, just to look at her. She looked back at me and looked just as happy I did.

A sudden thought popped into my head as I looked at Misty, still in my arms. I wasn't sure if I could do it, but figured since I was already being brave, I might as well try. I leaned closer to Misty, who, in turn, also began to lean towards me. Only an inch away-

-Brock burst in to the room. We both jumped and shot away from each other like we'd just been burned. I looked over to see Misty looking at me, her face completely red. I figured mine looked about the same.

We both looked away from each other when Brock asked "Did I miss something?" It didn't look like he noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"Well Brock-o, while you were off flirting with Nurse Joy, I practically died of a fever, and while Misty went to go get me some medicine, she was captured by Team Rocket. So yeah, you kind of missed a lot."

"Huh?"

Misty and I just rolled our eyes and began telling Brock about our day.

* * *

><p><em>And that's it! Hope you like it! I'll admit that I did. Writing it was lots of fun, and gave me interesting to do. I'll have to write another fanfic again sometime. Please review when you're done reading! I'd love to know what you think. Ciao!<em>


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